Egypt Independent: Living-Main newshttp://www.egyptindependent.com//enhome_channel/Life%20Style/rss.xml
enBicycle marathon in Ismailia to promote tourismhttp://www.egyptindependent.com//node/2474718
<img src="http://www.egyptindependent.com///sites/default/files/imagecache/media_thumbnail/photo/2016/07/23/501184/newly_developed_wheel_converts_any_bicycle_into_an_electric_vehicle.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-media_thumbnail" width="152" height="114" /><div>Adel Radwan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports for Ismailia governorate, issued a statement announcing a marathon for bicycles to be held Saturday for the purpose of tourism promotion.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>According to Radwan, 120 young men and women of Egyptian, Arab and foreign nationalties would take part in the marathon under the supervision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Radwan added (on Wednesday) that the course of the marathon starts from the Sports Stadium on the ring road until it reaches Corniche Number 6 in Ismailia city.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Participants will pass by the Suez Canal as well as Ismailia Museum.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Ismailia was chosen to host this important event, because of its prime location and its readiness to host both local and international sports competitions, Radwan explained.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><em>Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm</em></div>Fri, 09 Dec 2016 10:58:00 +0000Al-Masry Al-Youm2474718 at http://www.egyptindependent.comsites/default/files/photo/2016/07/23/501184/newly_developed_wheel_converts_any_bicycle_into_an_electric_vehicle.jpgAnalysis: Why does Angela Merkel suddenly want to ban the veil?http://www.egyptindependent.com//node/2474733
<img src="http://www.egyptindependent.com///sites/default/files/imagecache/media_thumbnail/photo/2014/11/03/484151/merkel.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-media_thumbnail" width="152" height="114" /><p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel is not one for rabble-rousing. In 11 years as the leader of Germany, her speeches are usually sobering analyses of thorny political and economic dilemmas, using only her signature diamond-shaped hand gesture to punctuate her points.</p><div>But on Tuesday night, &quot;Mutti&quot; or &quot;Mom,&quot; as she is affectionately called, made an impassioned plea to her party: &quot;I have also asked you for a lot,&quot; she told the more than 1,000 members of her Christian Democratic Union gathered, &quot;because the times have asked us for a lot. I know that very well. And I cannot promise that the demands in the future will be any less because we have to do what the times demand from us.&quot;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Merkel is facing tremendous pressure from voters -- as well as from her own party -- for allowing more than 890,000 asylum seekers into the country last year.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Initially, Germans opened their doors. Crowds came to train stations to applaud arriving asylum seekers, greeting them with flowers and chocolate. There is even a special word for it: &quot;willkommenskultur.&quot;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>But the numbers began to strain social services. Local councils complained there wasn&#39;t enough space to house everyone. Last year, one mayor took CNN for a tour of facilities, where refugees were forced to sleep on mattresses in the hallways of the official&#39;s office.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Then came New Year&#39;s Eve in Cologne. Police said that mobs of &quot;North African and Middle Eastern men&quot; sexually assaulted hundreds of women in the fireworks chaos.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Earlier this week, on the eve of the CDU party conference, police announced that a 17-year old Afghan refugee was suspected of raping and killing a 19-year-old university student.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>National statistics show some crimes, such as burglaries and petty offenses, have gone up since the start of the year as Germany&#39;s population has grown, but that less than 1% of sex crimes and even fewer homicides are tied to immigrants or refugees.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Nonetheless, much of the public no longer welcomes refugees but views them with suspicion. Riots between local residents and refugees have broken out in eastern Germany. Arson attacks on refugee shelters have skyrocketed. Support for far-right parties has surged.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Merkel&#39;s party was defeated in her own constituency of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern by the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party. The latter campaigned on a promise to stop immigration and won 20% of the vote.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Within the CDU, party members have grumbled that Merkel was out of touch with the public mood.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>This, perhaps, is why she has made a major political concession -- one that&#39;s been criticized by refugee rights groups: backing a ban by party members on full-face veils.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Merkel is staring down the barrel of arguably the most important vote of her life. The German federal election, taking place next year, will attract attention from the entire world, as many are depending on the Chancellor to fight back against the seemingly unstoppable march of populism. This task is daunting enough without pressure coming from your own party members.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Merkel told her party: &quot;We do not want any parallel societies and where they exist we have to tackle them.&quot;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>She said, &quot;Our laws have priority over honor codes, tribal and family rules, and over the Sharia. That has to be expressed very clearly. That also means that with interpersonal communication, which plays a fundamental role here, we show our face. This is why the full facial veil is inappropriate, and should be banded wherever it is legally possible. It does not belong in our country.&quot;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Less than 300 Muslim women in Germany are thought to wear the niqab or full-face veil. None are known to wear a burqa. But it is an easy way for Merkel to gain political capital within her own party and act tough on integration to the German public.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>At the end of her speech, Merkel received a standing ovation and sustained rounds of applause that lasted for 11 minutes. She was elected to lead the party with 89% of the vote, slightly less than she had hoped to gain.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Merkel has shown she can lead her party. Now she needs to show she can win back public confidence before next year&#39;s elections.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div>Thu, 08 Dec 2016 08:49:00 +0000CNN2474733 at http://www.egyptindependent.comsites/default/files/photo/2014/11/03/484151/merkel.jpgEgyptian man grows 'Beard of Bees', hopes to promote apian benefitshttp://www.egyptindependent.com//node/2474605
<img src="http://www.egyptindependent.com///sites/default/files/imagecache/media_thumbnail/photo/2016/12/03/505446/mohamed_hagras_31_performs_the_beard_of_bee_before_the_upcoming_egyptian_agricultural_carnival_of_beekeeping_in_his_farm_at_shebin_el_kom_city.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-media_thumbnail" width="152" height="114" /><div>Mohamed Hagras stands barechested as dozens of honeybees congregate around his face, eventually forming what he calls the &quot;Beard of Bees&quot;. To attract the insects he has a box housing their queen&#39;s hormones strapped to his chin.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The 31-year-old engineer-turned-beekeeper has been doing this for years both competitively - he fondly recalls a Canadian model&#39;s &quot;Bikini of Bees&quot; at a beekeeping event - and as an effort to educate Egyptians on the usefulness of bees.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&quot;The goal is to show that bees are not aggressive,&quot; he told Reuters at his farm in Shibin El Kom, the capital of the Nile Delta province of Menoufia.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&quot;One the contrary, they are helpful and produce things that help humans and agriculture.&quot;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Hagras extracts hormones from queen bees after they die and uses them to attract bees from the same hive to perform his show. He uses the same technique to form new hives, he says.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>He uses the &quot;Beard of Bees&quot; at contests and exhibitions where like-minded people try to break world records. The current holder is a Chinese beekeeper who in 2015 covered his entire body with over a million bees, a combined weight of almost 110 kg (242.5 lb).</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Other than honey and pollen, bees are also medicinal, Hagras says, adding that many people come to his farm to get stung in efforts to cure various diseases.</div>Sat, 03 Dec 2016 07:04:00 +0000Reuters2474605 at http://www.egyptindependent.comsites/default/files/photo/2016/12/03/505446/mohamed_hagras_31_performs_the_beard_of_bee_before_the_upcoming_egyptian_agricultural_carnival_of_beekeeping_in_his_farm_at_shebin_el_kom_city.jpgHaute cuisine? Santa serves up sleigh-borne dinner in the skyhttp://www.egyptindependent.com//node/2474589
<img src="http://www.egyptindependent.com///sites/default/files/imagecache/media_thumbnail/photo/2016/12/01/39/download.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-media_thumbnail" width="152" height="114" /><p>Not waiting at home for Santa Claus anymore, gourmets in Brussels are flying off aboard his sleigh to dine with him above the city&#39;s rooftops and twinkling Christmas lights.</p><p>&quot;Santa in the Sky&quot; is the new twist on the Belgian capital&#39;s &quot;Dinner in the Sky&quot; venture, where diners and chefs cooking for them are lifted high in the air on an open platform suspended from a construction crane.</p><p>Free to marvel at Brussels&#39; Flemish Renaissance grandeur and mediaeval churches, customers can savor haute cuisine from distinguished chefs, some with Michelin stars to their name.</p><p>This weekend on the city&#39;s chic Sablon square shopping district, a bell-ringing Santa Claus is welcoming people aboard the &quot;restaurant&quot; fitted out as a sleigh decked with lights and drawn through the air by four theater-prop reindeer.</p><p>Diners, who sit strapped to chairs to eat at a bar running around the open kitchen, can pay up to 250 euros (US$ 265) for a gastronomic four-course supper with wine.</p><p>Alternatively, they could go for options starting at 55 euros for tea -- of course, it&#39;s &quot;high tea&quot;.</p><p>On Friday evening, Maxime Mazier&#39;s menu included a lobster and artichoke starter; line-caught sea bass with shellfish; and coconut marshmallow with mango.</p><p>The trick, he said, was coping with the gusts of winter night air that whip around the sleigh. &quot;It&#39;s not that warm,&quot; he said. &quot;Just as you&#39;re serving, if the wind gets up, for the fish, which has to be served just right, it&#39;s the timing that&#39;s important.&quot;</p><p>Michael Chiche, who helps run the Brussels-based firm that over the past 10 years has brought the sky-dining experience to 58 countries, said he was confident the four-day Christmas event which ends on Sunday, would be repeated next year.</p><p>&quot;To be in the air, first, it&#39;s the view,&quot; he said. &quot;Secondly, you&#39;re blocked. It means that you are with your guests, you are with the chef and all the flavors, everything, you&#39;re going to experience it completely differently.&quot;</p><p>Helene Ziegler, 19, an art history student, said it had been worth a moment of panic: &quot;As we were on the way up, I got a bit scared. It was moving. But once on top, it became very quiet. It&#39;s great to see the entire city. The food is very good. The chefs prepare it right in front of us. It&#39;s wonderful!&quot;</p><p>The evening, said Ziegler, was a gift offered to her and her sister from their father -- though he managed to find a convenient excuse not to join them 100 feet (35 meters) above the cold cobbles of Sablon square.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>Thu, 01 Dec 2016 13:01:00 +0000Reuters2474589 at http://www.egyptindependent.comsites/default/files/photo/2016/12/01/39/download.jpg